Hello All:

This is to inform everyone that this year’s annual seminar will be held at my Bellflower martial arts school on July 31st, August 1st and August 2nd.(See directions below) We will be starting at 5:30 PM on Friday and ending about 9:00. Saturday morning will begin at 8:30 in the morning and go all day. Sunday is a casual day beginning at 9:00 and ending at noon.

Kung Fu San Soo and Filipino Knife Fighting
Along with instruction on Kung Fu San Soo, this year we will be having a 4 hour knife seminar on Saturday. Eye goggles and the hard training combat knife are required. You may furnish your own goggles and knife if you like or can purchase them from here. The knife is $10.00 and is yours to keep of course. It is the same knife as we used last year. The price of the goggles is to be determined in the near future, but I am sure they will be inexpensive. If you are planning on purchasing the equipment from me, please let me know as soon as possible so I can be sure to have enough on hand.

Cost
The cost of the seminar is the same as last year, $150.00 for the entire event. If you only plan on attending Saturday only the fee is $60.00. Friday and Saturday is only $100.00.

RSVP is not necessary, but would be greatly appreciated as I must make certain arrangements for the weapons and the food etc. For safety reasons no one will be permitted to attend the knife seminar without the proper equipment. DVD’s of past seminars are available and DVD’s for the upcoming event will also be available. If you attended the seminar your cost for the DVD’s are $50.00. If you did not attend the seminar the cost is $150.00.

As usual lunch will be included on Saturday for all who attend. We are looking forward to another great seminar this year. Your attendance is well appreciated.

Watch my website for any additional information. www.sansoo.com is the address. I am in the process of learning how to update my website myself, so in the future watch for more material to be posted more often.

If you have any questions or special needs please feel free to contact me.

Thank you and I will see you here!

Master Bill Hulsey

Google Map To Seminar

View Larger Map

Recently, I  was talking about “this is where Toyliho fut comes in”.  Let me go into a little more detail now. 

 

With Toylihofut you can work out for hours never doing the same thing twice. It is a wonderful workout.  You can practice kung fu principals and techniques without having to work out to the point of exhaustion unlike and in contrast to the “old style” of san soo.

 The so called “old style” really works up a sweat and you will exhaust yourself when practicing it correctly.  That being said, I still love the “old style” with a passion and will practice it until I cannot do it any more.  For those of you who don’t know, the “old style” is furious punching techniques with immense amounts of power and energy.  It utilizes powerful blocks and powerful attacks.

 

 Toylihofut is leverages and pressures applied without power.  It utilizes leverage but don’t get me wrong.  It will hurt you seriously.  It will tear, break and hyper extend ligaments, tendons and bones with ease.  It generally doesn’t use powerful blocks and is not concerned much with half horse stances. 

 

People have now tagged toylihofut  as the “new style”.  This is kind of a false rap.  It is all ancient material.   Jimmy taught it later on.   When I signed up at Frank Woolsey’s in 1968 Jimmy was already teaching the “new style.”  He no longer taught the hard core punching lessons.  Many people think this was due to a serious injury which lead to a major law suit.  It is my understanding that he beat the law suit but it cost him several thousand dollars.  This could be why he switched over from the hard core punches to the leverages.  Others believe that the books he taught from were written in 15 year teaching cycles and it was just time to switch over.  The truth is we probably will never know for sure. 

 

If I would have signed up at Jimmy’s instead of Franks, I would not have learned the Ahsoo,futga, toyliho, topga and numpi lessons.  I believe they would have been lost, probably forever.

 

  I am blessed and very fortunate to have learned them as I did.  I still teach them today as the core and foundation of this great art.  I also believe that those of you that have chosen to study with me are fortunate as well.  You are getting the old school lessons.  .   It is very rare to see these categories of lessons taught in any other school.  Many of the younger san soo teachers and students have never even heard of the old lessons.   

They teach you how to hit, bite, scratch and in general get down and nasty when you get into a fight.  I believe that if you get into a fight, you need to hit the guy.  You need to hit him so hard he is unconscious for two days.  I believe your life is on the line whenever you fight and you need to do whatever it takes to win.  And if at all possible, let’s do this while standing on our feet. 

 

 

June 16, 2009

 

Can you believe this?  It was a peanut butter sandwich.  A peanut butter sandwich!   I couldn’t tell if it had jelly on it or not.  I can’t tell you what a let down that was.  Or on the other hand, maybe peanut butter sandwiches are good for you.  What do I know? 

 

Jimmy also talked about getting and keeping in good shape.  He was always exercising.  He would be standing there talking to you with both his hands on a wall and was actually doing pushups against the wall.  He constantly was moving.

 

Here is what he had to say about that about keeping in shape.  When you reach the age of 35, you need to have your body in the shape that you want it to be in.  After that age it becomes very difficult for your body to produce muscle and even harder to lose weight or get into shape.  It is also not good for your body to work out to the point of exhaustion.  This is where toylihofut comes in.  (I will discuss this in greater detail tomorrow). 

 

Jimmy told me that if you keep your body in great shape, you would just go to sleep one day in your old age and not wake up.  You would die peacefully in your sleep.  He said that if you didn’t, however, you would linger.  You would fall ill.  You could be ill for years and you would suffer.  You could lose your memory and could lose the ability to take care of yourself.  He made it quite clear to me that this is not the road you want to go down. 

 

I gave it a lot of thought but tucked it into the back of my mind.  That is until February 14^th, 1999.  That is the day that Jimmy went to sleep and never woke up.  Talk about a shocker.  He did it.  He proved his point.  He died in his sleep.  If you got to go, that is the way to do it. 

 

Never again would I take lightly anything he had told me in the past. 

 

 

June 16, 2009

 

I ask Jimmy how old he was one day during class.  His reply was that he didn’t even know.  How strange is that?  Then he told me he thought he was 63. He went on to say that his mother and grandmother were still alive as well.  I was totally taken back by what he said.  This would mean that his mom was pretty old and his grandmother was very old. She would have been or would be near the ripe old age of somewhere around 100 years old.  This really caught my interest and I had to know more.

 

 I asked him if he had a history of long life in his family and he said he did.  He believed it was his ability to be constantly exercising, even when just standing around and because of another exercise he did every morning when he woke up. 

 

Needless to say, I ask him if he would show me this exercise he did each morning.  He had no problem showing it to me but told me it could only be done in the morning.  He said that if you did it any later in the day it would not be good for you.  The exercise gives the body an immediate surge of blood and gives your organs what he called fresh or new blood but reminded me is not to do it in the afternoon.  Of course, I  will be happy to show it to you so next time I see you just ask. 

 

Well, now all overwhelmed with the possibility of living longer myself, my next thought was to find out what he ate for lunch.  This was going to be good.  I noticed he brought his lunch to the school every day.  The next class, I waited around for what seemed hours. I had to find out exactly what was in that lunch bag.  Was it fruits and vegetables?  Fish or nuts?   What did this great man have in that bag?  Tune in tomorrow and I will tell you!

 

 

You know, it wasn’t very long ago that I didn’t even know what a blog was.  Now it seems I have to have one.   Doesn’t everyone?  Of course, I was the last one on the block to get a cell phone as well but now I never leave home without it.  At  62, it seems a bit harder for me to keep up with the latest in technologies and all the goodies that go with it, but I am trying.  So bare with me and if you like join in with your comments.  I am open to suggestions. 

 

I am thinking how great it is  going to be to run my own web site for a change.  It has become much too difficult relying on my web master for all my new post.   I am sure he is somewhat relieved about the new situation as well.   So thank you Gilbert for all the work you have done for me.  I do appreciate it. 

 

I have studied the ancient Chinese martial art of San Soo since 1968 making me one of the oldest teachers around.  I have many stories not only of the great Jimmy H. Woo, but also of the infamous Frank Woolsey.  I will be sharing those stories and my experience and knowledge of this art with all of you that are interested.  See you next time.

By: Master Bill Hulsey

“San Soo” means hand-to-hand combat.

Several years ago, a local cable television channel had as their guest speaker Jimmy H. Woo. After a short demonstration by a few of Woo’s students, the camera focused on Woo and his interviewers. After his introduction, and a short personal history, the interviewer asked Jimmy what did San Soo mean - his response was simple and crisp. Woo said, “San Soo means hand to hand combat.”

Well then, why is Kung Fu San Soo considered to be a combat art, as opposed to a sport technique? The answer is multi-fold:

• The first consideration is that it is usable by a smaller person to successfully fight against a larger, more powerful person?
• Secondly, does it provide some degree of protection from an opponent’s aggressive attack while allowing you to strike him?
• Thirdly, can the system of fighting be used anywhere, at any time, and under any condition?
• Fourth, does it have weapons applications?
• And finally, can the fighting style be used effectively against multiple opponents?

The answer has to be “yes” to all five of the previous questions before the system in question can be considered a true combat art, and not a sport.

A sport such as boxing or wrestling requires that both opponents be of compatible size, strength, and skill level. In boxing, the taller man with the longer reach is at an advantage over a person of smaller height. In wrestling, a man of greater strength and body weight has the advantage. There is of course exceptions to every rule, but here we are speaking in generalities.

Sports also have rules. A set of codes and regulations that the opponents are bound to recognize and uphold. There is also a governing body of some kind to insure that the rules are held to, such as a referee. There are also restrictions on the number of opponents on each side. Both teams have an equal number of players. Of course in combat there are no rules.

Kung Fu is different than a sport because we are attacking the body’s central nervous system.

It doesn’t make any difference how large a practitioner of Kung Fu happens to be. Anyone can kick a man in the groin hard enough to cause pain. Anyone can hit a man in the throat, and render him incapable of fighting. One of the main differences between a sport and real combat fighting is that the opponent’s size is not a factor in your ability to defeat him.

Kung Fu is different than a sport because we are attacking the body’s central nervous system. Unlike a sport, Kung Fu is designed to create the greatest amount of damage to our opponent, in the shortest amount of time. We are taught how to move and how to generate tremendous power with a punch. I’ve broke my opponent’s bones on more than one occasion with a single roundhouse punch. It’s not unusual for a person skilled with Kung Fu to rupture someone’s organs with a properly delivered blow. This is one of the things that distinguish our fighting style from a sport. Our size doesn’t matter; we can still beat a bigger person.

Another difference often commented upon by new students, is that we follow up on a downed opponent. Yes, we kick a man when he’s down. And very well I might add! The harsh reality of fighting is that you don’t want an opponent getting back up from the ground. If he gets up, you have to fight him again, and this time his friends may join him, or he may pull out a weapon. In either case, the situation has just got a whole lot more intense. We are talking about survival in an inhospitable world. There are no referees to blow a whistle, or throw down flags. Either you walk away after a fight, or he does.

Sports like boxing or fencing allow for protection against the other guy’s strikes. Boxing brings up the arms, and tucks in the head in order to protect your body. Fencing for instance, requires that you stand with your side to you opponent, giving a smaller target, and exposing less targets at the same time. Fencing also keeps your body as far away from your advisories weapon as possible.

Kung Fu also protects us from the blows of an opponent. It may do so by the use of powerful blocks such as a up-windmill, or by ducking under a punch thrown by your attacker, or by deflecting a strike. Of course we can take our abilities up one level, and strike him as he’s drawing back his arm to try and hit us, but this is less protection than just good tactics.

It also brings us in close to our opponent’s body. Pressing close to him retards his movements and renders him powerless. We also move around an advisory, allowing us to strike from behind, and well out of his effective punching range.

Then there is the question of whether the fighting style can be used in any geographical location, and under unfriendly circumstances. In other words, can this be used anywhere, at any time, and under any conditions. Kung Fu can be used very effectively in crowded bar rooms, back alleys with scattered broken glass, street gutters, from inside of cars, at the dinner table, in gravel pits. It can be used in bright sunlight, and pitch-dark hallways. Weather has no effect on Kung Fu.

Take a moment to imagine what it must have been like during a war in ancient China. Broken ground, rocky hillsides, muddy terrain, snow, ice, in the middle of burning villages, all in all, some pretty rough environmental conditions to have to fight through.

“…in the real world of fighting; there are no rules.”

There is the added ability to fight with weapons. There are a few sports that use weapons, for instance fencing. But there are rules of engagement, in the real world of fighting; there are no rules. Every technique in Kung Fu can be performed with weapons, such as a knife or a club, in your hands. Use of weapons is integral within each movement of Kung Fu because these were originally used in the battlefields of China.

Also, one of the main advantages in Kung Fu is your ability to fight against multiple opponents. The facts of real street fights are that you will very rarely be in a situation where you only have to fight one other person. I myself have been in dozens of real fights, and only twice has it been against only one opponent. People don’t fight fair, and having more players on their team gives them an advantage. Kung Fu is designed to fight multiple opponents. We are taught to attack in Fut Ga, how to throw one opponent into another in Toy Li Ho, and how to block a punch and then drop our attacker in Ah Soo. Combined these skills allow us to effectively fight against a larger number of advisories.

The effectiveness of Kung Fu is remarkable. That’s because its ability does not lie in theory, or the production of an individual, but instead in thousands of years of practice and testing. Kung Fu has been put to the test in the most severe and fierce conditions possible, in open combat. Kung Fu has been used for over four thousand years in combat, against hundreds of thousands of people. Kung Fu is still around after all that time because it works in real fights, and works well.